Many dental and medical procedures require the use of relatively expensive specialty equipment, instruments, implements, tools or supplies (hereinafter collectively referred to as “medical equipment” or simply “equipment”). Further, medical equipment must be clean and sterile in order to prevent patients from becoming infected by bacteria, viruses or other infectious agents. Relatively inexpensive medical equipment can be purchased new for each patient and disposed of after use so that there is no need to clean the equipment at all. However, this is simply not economical for expensive medical equipment that may cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Instead, such non-disposable medical equipment must be cleaned and sterilized after each use.
One common method for sterilizing medical equipment is the use of an autoclave. An autoclave is a device which sterilizes medical equipment with high temperature (and often high pressure) steam. In some autoclaves, used medical equipment is placed directly inside a steam chamber in the autoclave. Other autoclaves have a removable sealed cassette which is filled with used medical equipment and then inserted into the autoclave where steam is injected inside. Regardless of the specific type of autoclave used, sanitization is achieved by generating steam which is passed over the medical equipment. Many autoclaves are computer controlled so that the sanitization chamber or cassette is held at a particular temperature and pressure for several minutes to ensure that all infectious agents are destroyed. After the process is complete, the medical equipment is clean and sanitary and ready for use on the next patient.
However, although the medical equipment itself is sanitized, the same cannot be said for the environment surrounding the autoclave, which is often the medical or dental office where patients receive care. This is because the autoclave ejects waste steam and air into a waste container or sometimes simply into a sink. Once the steam has reached a sufficiently high temperature to kill any infectious agents, the waste steam and air are sanitized. However, when the steam is first injected into the chamber or cassette, it may not yet be at necessary sanitization temperatures. Further, even if the initial steam injected into the chamber or cassette is adequately heated, the chamber/cassette and equipment are initially at room temperature. When the steam first contacts the relatively cool chamber/cassette and medical equipment, the temperature of the steam is lowered, possibly below necessary sanitization temperatures.
Thus, the waste steam and air initially ejected from the autoclave is not sanitary, at least until the steam exiting the autoclave is above sanitization temperature. This steam and air may harbor infectious agents which are carried around the surrounding environment on air currents, thus potentially contaminating the entire room. Even if the autoclave ejects waste steam and air through a tube into a waste container, the steam and air will escape through leaks into the ambient air. Further, even if the waste steam is sanitary, the warm moist air it creates serves as perfect environment for mold growth in the surrounding area. Accordingly, even though the medical equipment is sanitized by the autoclave, the sanitization process exposes the surrounding environment to trace amounts of potentially dangerous infectious agents.